A/N: So...to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I've decided to divide today's story in 2 parts, just like the play. It was such a nice prompt and I felt it would have been rushed as a one shot! As usual HUGE (And I mean HUUUUUGE) thanks to my firends and betas xxDustNight88 and Dramione84 for their unfaltering help and support!
Hope you enjoy this, please make me a very happy author: read and review! :)
xxxx
Day 14
Song: All of Me – John Legend
Rating: T
Head Students dormitories, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Scotland
"-ding IMBECILE, Malfoy! I told you, I told you not to play with that sketchy-looking book of yours, but did you listen? No, of course not! You, you...idiot!"
"Oh, shut it Granger! Your constant blabbering isn't helping now, is it? Just, just let me think for a second!"
If anyone should have walked in the Head Students quarters, nothing would have seemed to be amiss. Draco Malfoy was there, pacing nervously back and forth, and Hermione Granger was there too, seemingly lost in thought.
Draco Malfoy stopped his pacing, then turned towards the other occupant in the room and pointed his finger towards the brunette witch. "You'd better come up with a solution, Malfoy. I'm not going to spend more time than is strictly necessary trapped in your body!"-
"Oh, for Salazar's sake, Granger!" boomed the petite witch in the direction of her blond fellow sufferer, "Do you think I'm having the time of my life being you? Instead of exhausting my body by pacing back and forth, sit down with me and help me figure out what the fuck happened!"
" Wha-" gasped Hermione, bulging Malfoy's eyes and twisting his facial muscles, making him look pretty bewildered. "What happened? You happened! You and your idiotic experiments! I knew you shouldn't have played with that book, it contains ancient magic, and there's no indication a countercurse even exists!"
Malfoy dragged his temporary body towards the sofa and crashed on it, seemingly unperturbed by the scathing look his own body was sending his way.
"Look, Granger," he said in her voice. "We can't panic now. There must be a way to reverse the spell-"
"Spell?" boomed Hermione, looking more intimidating than usual in the blond's body, "This isn't a bloody spell, Malfoy! This is a curse! It's not some funny prank spell, it's dark stuff!"
Malfoy rolled his borrowed eyes. "It can't be dark stuff, I found this book right here, in our Common Room. Dumbledore wouldn't have left it here if it really was dangerous!"
Hermione raked her hands, which were in fact his, in Malfoy's pale hair, thinking that he had a point. Dumbledore wouldn't put them in danger, or at least she hoped so. "We must find a solution as soon as possible, Malfoy. There's no way I can successfully pretend to be you tomorrow!"
"Do you think I'd have fun? Spending the day with Potty and Weasel?" he retorted from inside Hermione's body.
"Anyway" he continued, getting up from the sofa and carrying Hermione's petite form towards the bathroom door. "There's nothing we can do tonight, so I guess I'll just take a shower and go to bed…"
"You WHAT?" boomed Hermione, finding satisfaction in the intimidating tone she mustered, from behind him. "No. No, Malfoy. Absolutely not. There's no way you're ever going to see me naked. Don't even think abo-"
Slam!
"MALFOY! Get out, immediately! I swear if you dare undress I'll run all the way to Gryffindor Tower and profess my undying love to Harry! Then try and explain it was me inside your bo-"
She didn't even have to finish the sentence. The door opened almost instantly and a very pissed off, but thank Merlin still clothed, version of herself hissed, "Fine. I'll use a bloody Scourgify, or whatever helps you sleep at night Granger."
Hermione relaxed visibly and sighed, "Yeah, speaking of sleep...I'm not sleeping in your room, Malfoy."
"Of course you are! What if a House Elf sees Draco Malfoy sleeping in Hermione Granger's bed? Do you honestly think it wouldn't raise suspicions? Come on, Granger...use that delightful brain of yours!"
"In case you have forgotten," she said, adopting Malfoy's condescending tone with great pleasure. "I'm trapped in your body. I'm momentarily stuck using your brain. Which, evidently, must be faulty. I wouldn't expect any less, your biggest worry is which set of robes to wear, or in which one of your estates you should spend you holidays".
Malfoy narrowed his, well...her eyes "Joke all you want, Granger. We'll see if by tomorrow evening you still think my life is all fucking rainbows!" and with that, he left her, heading for her own room and shutting her out.
Hermione looked at Malfoy's hands, still incredulous about her predicament. Unfortunately, the blond was right. There was nothing they could do at such a late hour, and they needed to rest if they wanted to survive the following day in each other's body, so Hermione headed towards the Slytherin's bedroom.
The room was similar to her own, the only real difference was the colour scheme. And well, the absence of any kind of picture or personal belonging, excluding school books and stationery. So, Malfoy said his life wasn't as blissful as she thought. What problems could he possibly have? His family had been pardoned after Narcissa Malfoy's defiance of Voldemort and Draco's own reluctance at recognising the Trio when they'd been captured and brought to the Manor. What could plague Malfoy, honestly?
And with these thoughts running through her overstimulated mind, she put on Malfoy's pyjamas, slipped under the green silk covers and fell asleep.
XXXX
The following morning Draco opened his eyes only to find he couldn't see anything. What the-oh, right. Granger's hair. He was still in Granger's body. It was too much, of course, hoping it would all be fixed come morning?
Apparently so.
The blond got up and started looking for a clean uniform and set of robes. He'd have to wear Gryffindor colours. And a skirt.
He quickly undressed, trying not to take a look at Granger's petite body in the mirror. He'd nearly managed to, when he glimpsed her creamy legs in the mirror. He would swear to anyone he didn't do it on purpose, yet he couldn't avoid staring at Granger's body. "So, the Bookworm isn't that bad, under all those baggy clothes" he murmured while getting dressed.
Once in the Common Room he spotted his own body, sitting on one of the sofas. "Granger," he called. "We need to discuss a few things before heading to class."
"Yeah," she agreed nodding. "I only have a few rules, actually. Don't speak about girls problems you know nothing about. Don't speak with Ginny if you can avoid it, she'd find out something's wrong in less than a minute. Don't taunt Harry or Ron, they must not know what's going on, especially if you don't want to be accused of performing Dark magic. And I bet you don't, Malfoy."
Draco rolled his borrowed eyes. "Anything else?" he asked sarcastically.
"Actually," she said, scanning him from head to toe "Yes. Don't you dare go around with such a short skirt! That's indecent!" she shrieked. Only, it was a weird effect, coming from his mouth, with his voice.
"Come on, Granger," he joked. "Isn't it right about time to show off your legs?"
"Malfoy…" she threatened narrowing her eyes and stepping closer.
"Okay, okay," he conceded. "I'll fix it", and with a flick of his, well...her wand the skirt went back to being a decent length.
"I have a few rules too, Granger," he said before she could leave. "Don't talk to Pansy. She's fucking annoying as it is, try to discourage her enthusiastic advances, please. And don't be a swot, I usually keep to myself during classes. Try not to talk too much to Theo and Blaise, they're not stupid, they know me too well not to notice something's amiss. What else?" he said, thoughtfully. "Oh, yes. If people should...say things, just ignore them."
"Things?" asked Granger with an inquisitive tone. "What kind of things?"
Draco didn't really want to talk about it in general, let alone with Hermione Granger, so he decided to distract her with something that would most certainly take her mind off his last sentence.
"Never mind. One last thing, though. Granger, we must train you for Quidditch. I have a match in two days and you must at least pretend to play. You can then feign a muscular pain or whatever, but if you don't show up we won't be able to reschedule the match."
"What?" she exclaimed. "No. No, Malfoy. There's absolutely no way. I hate flying, I hate brooms, and most of all I hate Quidditch."
How could someone hate Quidditch? She was fucking mental, Draco was pretty sure about that now. "Look," he said with the calmest tone he could muster "Nothing will happen to you. You just need to learn to take off and hover a little, then you can fetch Madame Hooch and ask for suspension."
Granger nervously raked her borrowed hands through his pale blond hair, giving him a dishevelled look. "Granger, fix that mess. My hair never looks that appalling," he ordered.
"Yes, sir" she answered mock saluting him. "And as for Quidditch...only take off, hovering and landing right? No snitch seeking or weird Wonky faints."
Draco couldn't believe his ears "It's Wronsky Feint, Granger," he said, exasperatedly "You're hopeless, I swear."
"Yeah whatever," she answered, nonplussed "I'll go get breakfast now, so that I'll avoid your friends. I suggest you wait a little bit, so that Ginny will be engaged in conversation with her friends. Harry and Ron aren't very talkative in the morning, luckily. See you later, Malfoy."
And before he could say anything, she disappeared through their portrait hole.
XXX
Potions Classroom, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Scotland
Hermione sat next to Theodore Nott, she'd nearly forgotten she was trapped into Malfoy's body and glared at him when he waved her over, then remembered he thought she was his best friend and waved back, sitting on the stool between him and Blaise Zabini. Harry, Ron and Malfoy-Hermione were sitting at their usual spot in the seats right in front of them, and they all turned to glare at her when she entered the room.
"You alright, mate?" asked Nott, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, he can't already be suspicious, right?" she thought while narrowing her eyes back, in a way that would have made the real Malfoy proud.
She channelled her inner Malfoy and answered, "Of course I am, what kind of question is that?"
Nott scoffed. "Good morning ray of sunshine. Bloody hell, Draco; I swear you're impossible!"
Hermione was about to reply when Zabini chimed in. "Theo, come on. Leave him alone, he doesn't need you to tease him too."
Hermione nodded towards Zabini, deciding that the less she spoke the lower the possibilities of being found out were. While waiting for Snape, she thought again about Zabini's words to tease him too. Who exactly was it that teased Malfoy? It made no sense whatsoever.
Malfoy-Hermione was sitting right in front of her, keeping his head down and pretending to revise. Good boy, that was most definitely Hermione-ish behaviour. In fact, it was the perfect way to be left alone by both Harry and Ron, she noted.
"Mate," asked Nott while elbowing her. "Honestly, what's wrong with you this morning?"
Hermione rolled Malfoy's eyes and hissed, "Nothing's wrong, Theo. Please, do tell me what it is that you are so willing to share." The dark-haired wizard shook his head. "Nothing, mate," he said. "I just wanted to know if you are willing to go out on a double date with me and Daphne."
Holy crap. What would Malfoy say?
Hermione looked desperately at herself. Malfoy was probably overhearing because she found him turned towards her, mumbling, "No way, no way…" very pointedly then, "Oh, here it is. Thought I'd left my essay in my common room!" he explained to Ron, who was looking at Malfoy-Hermione shaking his head.
Hermione silently thanked Malfoy's wit, then turned towards Theo and said, "Mate, how many times do I have to tell you? No double dates, especially not with Pansy. Ask Blaise here, I'm sure he'll help you out."
She'd just taken a huge risk, for what she knew Zabini could be happily engaged, but something told her he wasn't.
And she'd been right, as the dark-skinned wizard smirked and said, "Yeah, mate. Leave Drakie alone, I'll come. But find someone other than Pansy, or I'm out."
XXX
Draco couldn't help but be impressed by Granger's impersonation of himself. She was far from the original, of course, but still remarkably convincing.
Fortunately, Potty and the Weasel didn't seem to be interested in engaging Granger in conversation, busy as they were discussing Quidditch. He itched to participate, and possibly discover some Gryffindor tactics, but showing interest would have certainly blown his cover. Granger and Quidditch were clearly living on two different planes. Remotely distant ones, at that.
He was still lost in thought, when the class fell silent. He was about to ask Potty what was going on, when he heard his own voice, coming from behind him. Granger was answering Snape's question! Was she completely and utterly mental? Yeah, he'd already decided that she was. He turned around slightly and noticed the bewildered look on his friends' faces. They must be asking themselves why on Earth Draco was participating to the lesson, when it was widely known that he was a taciturn student.
Draco turned towards Granger's friends, but they were both staring at Draco Malfoy, if only they'd known the truth, answering a teacher's question.
Snape gave 10 points to Slytherin for Granger's answer. Well, maybe it wasn't all that bad after all. Draco shrugged his borrowed shoulders and resumed his note taking, when the class fell silent again. He turned around and there it was, a version of himself with his hand raised up in the air.
He was about to throw a death glare to Granger when the Weasel elbowed him, hissing "Hermione, what's wrong with you? Answer the questions! You're letting Malfoy get all the points."
Weasley could really be naive. "Oh stop it, Ronald," he said condescendingly. "You should know by now that Snape won't give me any points for answering! It's a waste of time, he's clearly biased…"
"Yeah, whatever," muttered the redhead back, before turning his attention to a match of Hangman he and Potter had started Merlin knew when.
Fortunately Granger answered only one more question before realizing her mistake, and the rest of the lesson passed without incident. Once it was over he managed to get rid of Saint Potter and his sidekick and resolved to talk to Granger about her suspicious behaviour, before someone noticed. Well, to tell the truth Snape had been giving him and Granger weird looks all through class, so it might be too late for that. Still, he could do some damage control.
XXX
Trailing behind Blaise and Theo, Hermione was trying to remember what class the Slytherin's had next when she was suddenly yanked by the scruff of her robe into a broom closet and the door was slammed shut. Before she even had a chance to pull Malfoy's wand from inside her tousled robes, someone muttered Lumos and her real face was revealed before her.
"Malfoy!" She nearly shouted, "I could have hexed you!"
"Not likely, Granger," he drawled. "There's barely enough room in here to breathe let alone for you to get inside my robes quickly enough."
"What was so urgent you needed to handle me in this way anyway, Malfoy?" She huffed, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Seriously? You really have to ask?" He rolled his eyes, laughing at her quietly. "What do you think you were playing at, answering all of Snape's questions? Haven't you ever realized I never answer questions unless I'm called upon, or I want to try and one-up you and the rest of the Gryffin-dorks?"
She stared at him for a moment, a bit flabbergasted. She really hadn't ever noticed that...she was always too busy trying to answer the questions, to be honest. She wouldn't admit this aloud, though. Shifting slightly in the small space, she suddenly became aware of how closely they were standing. Biting her bottom lip, she swallowed before answering Draco.
"I'm sorry...It's a habit of mine. Besides, you should be happy; I managed to earn your house thirty points!"
"What!?" He scoffed, his eyes going wide. "Happy? You drew unnecessary attention to "me", and in turn "yourself" because of our current predicament." Without thinking, Draco's hand lifted and grabbed at "his" chin, startling Granger. "And don't bite my lip...it's not something I would do." Gently, he used his thumb to brush the lip so she would stop biting it. As if realizing what he'd done, Draco coughed and quickly dropped his hand, his embarrassment causing Hermione's cheeks to blush.
"Sorry…" Hermione whispered, shocked by his uncharacteristic display. "It's just another habit of mine. I'll do my best to refrain from doing that too."
"Right." Glancing away Draco tried to figure out what to say next. "Uh-We should get going. I I have to get to Muggle Studies, right? Why do you even take that class. Granger? You're a Muggleborn?"
"You called me a 'Muggleborn?" She found herself speechless yet again.
"Whatever. Don't make such a big deal about it, Granger. We're going to be late. Nox." Plunging them into darkness, he reached around and opened the door, first making sure the hallway was clear before pushing her out of the closet. "Besides, you're off to Transfiguration and you know how McGonagall is when you're late. See you later!" With a final smirk and a wave, Draco ran down the hall leaving Hermione standing there, the most bewildered look on "Draco Malfoy's" face.
"What the hell just happened?"
END OF PART 1
A/N: So, what did you think so far? And...what if I turned this sotry into a full fiction? Goid idea? Interesting? :)